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The Progenies
By far the most notable and widely spread of the religions that the Kingdoms inhabitants believe in, it is mostly practiced in the north and is the official state faith. The basis of the religion are founded of the idea of one supreme God , Fenthu, who created his children (his progenies), the Progenies have the most obvious influence in the laws and traditions of the people in the north; specifically their birthright. The Dieties 'Fenthu (Father)' Fenthu , which in the old tongue means Father, is the supreme being who existed before all else. The creation of his children are the sole accomplishment of Fenthu and thus he is not reverred or worshipped by the cloth, the praise and worship going only to his progenies and hence the name of the faith. Due to his lack of importantance in the faith Fenthu is never described or personified, and there are no official depictions of him in any holy scriptures. 'The Progeny' In the order by which they were born: *Efrus - The Heir. The firstborn who would inherit all. *Tethus - The Creator. The secondborn who create the world and the heavens for Efrus. *Artus - The Defender. The thirdborn who would defend all that Efrus owned. *Danaius - The Apostle. The fourthborn who would spread word of Efrus and gather followers. *Reebus - The Free. The fifthborn, no purpose other than to live free among men. To the northfolk only the five Progeny are given worship, specifically by the Prominar and the rest of the cloth. Though there are other dieties within the holy book of the Testamani Prous Amanti (The Book of the Children) ''they are not seen as figures of worship within the faith, but sometimes a blessing may be called in their name. In some of the outer parts of the northern duchies, or behind closed doors, some may more actively give worship to those other than the Progeny. 'Ata (Mother) Mother to the Progeny with Fenthu the diety known as Ata is oftern spoke of far more than Fenthu, in either desperate prayers or curses, for all fallen souls are delivered to Ata. More often than not Ata's name is called by the desperate women who are forced to give up their sixthborn child and asking for Ata to take care of their child in its sacrifice as caretaker to the unknown children. This connection with death has also meant that her name is often used as a curse to wish a death upon your enemy or when a mortally wounded soldier is trying to keep her at bay (though they may also call her forth for a a swift painless death). '''The Children of Reebus As the fifthborn Reebus was free to move amongst the people as one of them, enjoying the joys of mortality and often living in sin, held against a different standard due to his birthright; he was a free soul. Lustful and licentious Reebus seeded four daughters to his mother Ata. Not wishing them to follow Reebus' path she took them as her own and raised them as women; each said to be different aspects of womanhood. *''Jessemen'' - Goddess of beauty. *''Thelia - G''oddess of lovers. *''Herithian - Goddess of fertility. *''Perensia - ''Goddess of the hearth/home. 'The Sixthborn/The Dark Gods' Of those that were born of Fenthu after the fifthborn Reebus, they were cast aside and condemned to death. Unwilling to allow them to be forgotten souls Ata rescued the sixthborn, but knowing how they had been discarded by Fenthu meant that they held only hatred in their heart for both him and his Progeny and so they sought to destroy all that had been created. *''Krassak - God of bloodshed/wrath *''Ipthius'' - God of sickness *''Apadietis'' - Goddess of despair *''Darseesis - God of temptation *''Gesakal - God of fatalism *''Ulassus - Goddess of famine 'The Holy Order of the Progeny' The organization of worshippers following the Progeny are typically known as ''the Order. The organization itself is broken down into a heirarchy of lower and senior holy men and women who have sworn their lives to the cloth as disciples of the faith. 'The Prominar' The Prominar is the head of the faith, responsible for being the herald of the Progeny and by his holy appointment representing the dieties and commanding over the Order. Holding a position of infallibility by the Orders' dogma the Prominars word can never be wrong as he speaks for the Progeny themselves as their herald, for the Prominar to be wrong is to consider the Progeny in their divine knowledge to be wrong. Due to this there is Divine Law, that all laws made by man are to follow the will of the Gods and so those in the position of Prominar can issue Divine Edict to pass laws that supercede even those passed by the King. It is believed by many that the King holds the most power within the Kingdom, but a people are only loyal to the crown depending upon whose head it sits; whilst those with faith will always follow the voice that speaks to the gods who can create Divine Law that even the King must follow. By tradition and holy decree the Prominar is always a fourthborn, brought into this world for no other purpose than to spread word of the Progeny, and typically a male. Though there are females within the Order it is rare that any rise above the position of a Prominary, and none have ever been made Prominar. The Prominar is more than a position, it is the fulfilment of an ongoing legacy, and as such upon taking the position the appointed is no longer refered to by any other name other than Prominar, though occasionally as a mark of respect may be called "Most Holy Apostle". The Prominar and his school of Prominary reside in the Sanctum Amantis at the city of Highcliff in the Duchy of Valor. 'The Prominary' The School of Highest Apostles, and those next in line for the position of Prominar by their own vote, are the Prominary. The Prominary (individually known as a a Prominus or High Apostle) typically oversee the holy jurisdiction of a specific territory known as a Holy State, responsible for the religious oversight of that area and aiding in politics between nobility and foreign territories and important matters of state to act on behalf of the Prominar. Made up of five members altogether, one representing each sect of the Progeny (one sect for each diety), the Prominary insofar as the territory they watch over could be seen as being similar to that of a Duke/Duchess, though they are not specifically assigned to a duchy (with the exception of the Duchy of Valor who does have but one Prominus) but for political reasons their jurisdiction does often follow the duchy borders. If the Kingdom there are only the duchies of Moldovia and Foals that have no direct assigned Proginary assigned to any of their lands, though this is a move that the Order continue to move towards. The Prominary and their assigned positions are: *Prominus Sapas of the Order of Efrus - Valor *Prominus Grendin of the Order of Tethus - The Dales/Scarfell *Prominus Adelaine of the Order of Artus - Chalk/The Valorian Island Territories *Prominus Juros of the Order of Danaius - Ashen *Prominus Yarafax of the Order of Reebus - Sandsdown/The Sandsdown Island Territories/Eastern Foals The official residence of the Prominary is at the Sanctum Amantis with the Prominar, which is where they will gather for any important matters should an assembly be called; otherwise they travel from place to place within their Holy State. 'Apostle' In many ways similar to the Prominary in that one of their main roles is to act as diplomat when needed (acting in the stead of the Prominus of their Holy State) the Apostles are spread throughout the Kingdom and take residence in their Apostlic Temple, the highest houses of worship for those following the faith. Commonly found in most cities the Apostle is considerably more accessible than the Prominus and so is often involved with matters of state in the city or surrounding area in which they reside. Such common activies for the Apostle are in the service to nobility such as the marriage of two nobles or leading funerals, but often they simply act as advisors and passing on the doctrine and Divine Law of the Prominar. 'Ecclesial' Away from the big cities and into the smaller towns or more remote areas you can find the less impressive chapels and temples of the Order, their oversight put in the hands of a resident Ecclesial. The Ecclesial typically deals with the more commonfolk of the Kingdom and leading regular services for the town, performing services to those that need them (as with an Apostle but to the commonfolk). The Ecclesials when being addressed are named as the dieties by which they serve, a male Ecclesial being refered to as Fenthu follow by his surname and a female Ecclesial named Ata followed by her surname eg. Fenthu Ortice or Ata Moren 'Canon' Beyond the cities and towns where the Apostles and Ecclesials give direct spiritual guidance and influence to the people, there are a number of Abbey's that have been errected with the purpose of spreading the word to the more remote locations. The Canon is the head of the Abbey and of the Chapter which the Abbey represents. A Chapter can represent the entire Progeny, but more often they give worship and spread the word of a particular diety (though not at the expense of the other dieties). The Canon is responsible for the running of the Abbey and the wellbeing of the people who serve there. It is the Canons responsibility to ordain all new Disciples into the Order. 'Cleric' The Clerics of the Abbey can serve primarily one of two functions for the Chapter. Often the Clerics are the primary teachers of the Disciples of the Chapter, teaching about the Holy scripture and educating the newly ordained at the Abbey in such skills as will benefit them when they become Witnesses. Stationed within the Abbey they teach classes, perform rites and educate their wards. Other Clerics do not settle at the Abbey once they have completed their pilgrimage or years of wandering, ''and instead choose to continue as a wandering Cleric such as the forthborn Danaius did as he spread the gospel of Efrus. Using the skills they have learned in their service they are able to travel from village to village to spread word of the Progeny and help out in any ways they can; typically they are able to help with reading and writing as scholars or tending to wounds and ailments (human or sometimes animal) as traveling healers. A Cleric at some point may be asked to take on a a Disciple of their Abbey, usually for no more than two years, where they travel with the Cleric before undergoing their own pilgramage alone and becoming a Witness. The term of address of a Cleric is either a Brother or a Sister, depending on the gender. 'Witness' The name given to those Disciples who have now begun their pilgrimage, a time of wandering the Kingdom spreading the word of the Progeny. The pilgrimage can start at any time the Chapter believes the individual to be ready for the harsh life beyond the providing walls of the Abbey, where in order to survive the Witness will often have to trade their skills for food and board, sometimes performing services to the poorer or remote people, or when needed begging for alms. Traveling the lands alone is a dangerous task, though few save the most heinous of people would attack a Witness who had little to nothing on their person; but there are always some who will take this advantage when they can. Though the Order do not promote violence, they avidly support the ways of Artus the Defender, and so to presume a Witness or Wandering Cleric is unable to defend themselves is often a very grave oversight for any attacker. The pilgrimage can last a varying amount of time depending on what journey the Witness has agreed with the Chapter and set out to do. Upon completing this journey they are promoted to the position of Cleric. The term of address of a Witness, as with a Cleric, is either a Brother or a Sister, depending on the gender. 'Disciple' The fourthborn of a family are traditionally adopted into a local Abbey where they will be ordained into the Order, following the birthright of Danaius. Typically this happens at around ten years of age, but can be as young as six or as old as fourteen. When a child comes to the Abbey they are stipped of their House/Family surname and instead given another name by the Canon to show that they now belong first and foremost to the Order. It is a time of learning, chores and rote for the Disciples of the Abbey as they attend daily lessons and sermons and are given an education. It is a life of humility as the Disciples are taught to live without luxuary and survive on the simple physical needs that the Abbey provide, but also the spiritual needs that can only be gained from worship to the Progeny. A Disciple can serve at the Abbey for many years until the Canon, under discussion with the Clerics of the Abbey, feel they are ready to be assigned to a wandering Cleric in preparation for their pilgrimage. 'The Testamani Prous Amanti'''